History Adventuring

If you're wondering what's going on here in this photo from the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions), you're looking at a company that did bill posting. And while it isn't a term that's used nowadays, it's still part of the language of billboards. The term "billboard" simply means a dedicated place where advertisers could post bills. That is, where they could put up advertising. Yes, ads were plastered all over the place, on the sides of barns, on houses, businesses, street lights, wherever, and they were commonly called "bills". If you're old enough, you may have seen signs that said "post no bills!" in public places. That started when cities had had enough enough of these ads covering up just about everything, which looked very ugly and messy. In cities like Elizabeth, New Jersey, there were dedicated boards where these bills could be posted. Advertising is big business, and needs to be cont

Time-travel with me, and let's see if we can win a brand new Oldsmobile. We're going to Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1952. We will need a dime! This adventure is inspired by an image that I found on the Duke University website ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions). Their interest is in the billboards, but I'm interested in everything else, including that '52 Olds. Let's take a closer look. I wish that I could see more of it, but of course that's not the reason that this photo originally was taken. It was taken just to record that the billboards were up and visible, so we're just trying to look at stuff in the background. I'll tell you what I see. The sign there on the awning over the car says, "Catholic War Veterans Mt. Carmel Post 714, and Benefit Building Funds. Looks like they were raising money to build a building for the vets. It costs ten cents a share, or you can get three for a quarter. I wonder how much that car sold for in 1952

It's August of 2021, and I've been following the news reporting on people who stand by the motto "Live Free or Die". And historically this has been a rallying cry for people who were willing to give up their life rather than lose their liberty. And speaking for myself, I'm very much in agreement of the statement "Live Free or Die". It's my life, I will not be enslaved, or forced to do things that will deny my liberty. Yes, I will die free. And this is where it gets kinda tricky nowadays because there are people who haven't defined what freedom means to them. Words require definitions, and "freedom" is no exception. Of course we can all agree that putting me in a dungeon and throwing away the key would take away my freedom. I would have lost the ability to move around freely, and would be willing to lose my life if necessary rather than be trapped there. Of course if I define my freedom as the ability to go the wrong way down the freeway

In today's imaginary journey, we're going to Liggett Drugs in Yonkers, New York, at Broadway and Main Street. It's 1952. This image is from the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions) and they're interest is in the billboard, which is also why the photo was originally taken. My interest is in the cars, the buildings, the people, and in time-traveling. Come on! In order to step into the picture, I'm going to say that's me. Of course it's not, 1952 was long before I was born, so stop with the wise-cracks already! And if you ask me where I got that tie, I'll punch you in the nose! Let's take a look around. My eye immediately goes to the Riviera Market truck, the one there with the split rear window. Looks like they deliver poultry and fish. I wonder if they have refrigeration in that truck? Ice? And who is that standing behind it? I've always been fascinated by 50s cars, especially the ones with the holes along the s

In this imaginary journey, you're going to the Smithdeal-Massey Business College in Richmond, Virginia. We're on 8th Street looking northeast towards Broad Street. It's 1940, and you're my son. I'm staying at Murphy's Hotel, which is right across the street. I'm so proud of you, son, your future is bright! This image, by the way, is from the Duke University Libraries Digital Collections. Their interest is in the study of historic advertising, and mine is time-traveling. I also want to say a special thank you to my top history adventuring detective (who prefers to remain anonymous) who precisely identified this location. Not a trace of these buildings remain. Like I was saying, son, I'm so proud of you. With your brains, and the book-learnin' that you're going to get from the College, you'll go far. I've heard good things about this school, and it looks like a convenient location - you can take the trolley anywhere you need to go. Can you

A California Stop is a slang term for just slowing down at a stop sign, and treating it like a yield sign. I always lived in crowded areas, like Phoenix or Los Angeles (and even my old neighborhood in Minneapolis where I grew up), so while I'm familiar with California Stops, I've never done one, but I know that there are people who do them. I'll see if I can explain who should, and shouldn't do a California Stop. First of all, for those of you who are saying "No cop, no stop", you should stop. In other words, it's illegal and you could get a ticket. You also may be the person who knew exactly how many tardies you could have at school before you got detention, and exactly how many people need to be following you before you need to pull over while towing (I could never get that one right on my driver's tests!). If you're a conceptual thinker, not a rote learner, I'll explain why, aside from it's being illegal, a California stop is perfectly f

As I was browsing the Duke website, enjoying the old photos, I found one that I particularly liked, because of the old cars, and the interesting architecture. My top history adventuring detective (who prefers to remain anonymous) identified the exact location. You're looking east on Main Street towards Broadway in Yonkers, New York, in 1939. That's the Square Hotel, as you can see. And as I kept looking through the Duke images, and saw this, from 1948. Something was going on at the Square Hotel! Then this image from 1949 showed what happened. I call this "re-skinning" of a building, and it became Mimi. That building is still there. I went on Google Street View, and nowadays it says "One Main Street". How about that? Thank you for visiting Yonkers with me today! Images from the Duke University Library Digital Collections, and Google Street View. If you like pictures of old-time Phoenix, please become a member of History Adventuring on Patreon. I share a LOT

Let's go back to the future! And where we're going, we'll still need roads, but we won't need stop signs, traffic lights, or lines on the road. And that's because the road will not have amatuer drivers anymore, it will only be the pros and self-driving cars. Terrible drivers won't need the simplistic system that has been designed over the last hundred years or so. If you're saying, "Now waitaminute, I'm not a terrible driver - I know to stop at stop signs, I know what a yield sign is as opposed to merge, I pay attention to traffic lights, and keep my eyes open for speed limit signs!", then you've told me everything I need to know about you, and I'm glad that you won't be allowed to drive anymore. You're the reason that this complex system had to be created, because the average driver is just so terrible. I'll see if I can explain by making a comparison to pushing a shopping cart in a grocery store. If you've ever pushed

Let's time-travel back to 1937, and go relax on the beach in Atlantic City. Yes, I know that I'm supposed to use the term "shore", but I'm from California, so you have to cut me some slack. Anyway, let's go! This photo, by the way, is from the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions). Their interest is in the billboards, mine is in the people! Here we are, that's me there. No, not the guy on the left with the biceps, the one on the right in the hat, talking. That guy being admired by the pretty girl might you, or you might be sitting there listening to me yammering on, and on... Presumably I'm talking about things were so much better back before the war. Of course, I'm not saying "World War I" because World War II hadn't happened yet. I may refer to it as "The Great War", or the "War to End All Wars", but I'd probably just say "the war. Pre-war whiskey is much better! It'

When I stumbled on this image at the Duke University site, it really tickled me. I like Coca-Cola, and I like old advertising. This is from 1936, when Coca-Cola had been around for fifty years. Here, I'll zoom in on the billboard for you: It says, "50th Anniversary", and on the left "1886" and on the right "1936". I would guess if you sold this on eBay it would fetch a good price, although it would be difficult to ship! Speaking for myself, as of this writing, I've been drinking Coke for fifty years, at least. I don't recall the first time I had a genuine Coca-Cola, but my parents always had it around the house, in the refrigerator in the basement in Minneapolis. Every once in a while my mom would try to pawn off the generic "store brand" cola, but even us kids knew the difference. By the way, I also like Pepsi, and RC (just for the record). But Shasta Cola? Yuk! Now let's take a look at the cars. I'm no expert, but my best gu

Today I'm walking across the Ben Franklin Bridge from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Camden, New Jersey in 1939. I'm crossing the Delaware. This image is from the Duke University site, and with the help of my top history adventurer, who prefers to remain unnamed, I know that I'm looking east. This bridge, of course, is still there, and you can still walk across it. I prefer to do it in my imagination. That's me there, with a hat inspired by Chico Marx. My trousers are a little baggy, but that's OK, they're roomy! I'm assuming that's you, walking towards me, close to the edge. I'm afraid of heights, so I stay away from the railings! I'm wondering what I'm carrying, it looks like a book, maybe it's a satchel of some kind. Look at those cars! Every one of them is a classic! I especially like that little roadster there. I wish that I could bring it back with me to the 21st Century. Thank you for walking with me! Images from the Duke Universit

Although this photo was taken to document the billboards along the shore in Atlantic City, New Jersey, I'm mostly fascinated by the people, especially what they're wearing on the beach (oops, I mean the shore, this is the east coast, you know!). I've never seen the Atlantic Ocean, but I spent a fair amount of time in my twenties along the Pacific, and my favorite pastime was looking at the girls, who mostly wore teeny-weenie yellow polka-dot bikinis. This group in the foreground in this photo kinda puzzles me, especially the two who appear to be wearing some type of booties. Who wears booties to the beach? If you're an expert in female fashion in the '20s, maybe you can help explain. But then it doesn't seem as if they men's swimwear looks all that different from the women's. They're all wearing tank tops, and the men are wearing shorts and the women I presume are wearing skirts and leggings. Oh yeah, and the men aren't wearing bathing caps, only

I've been thinking a lot about Santa Claus lately. It started for me a couple of days ago when I picked up a discarded toy while I was out on my morning ride, took it home, cleaned it up, did small repairs to it, and donated it to the Goodwill the next day. And it occurred to me that if anything marks my transition from "older man" to "old man", that's it. It was a strange and magical feeling. And now I'm thinking of society's attitude towards old men through history. In my lifetime, old men have been a lot of things, including dirty, and creepy, and miserly. I look in the mirror nowadays, in my sixties, and I see my grey hair, and the lines on my face and I wonder what kind of old man I am. In my lifetime society's view of old men has changed. Before I was born, when that drawing at the top of this post was made, Santa Claus represented the very best thing that an old man could aspire to - kindly, generous, and when he gave a toy to a child it w

It's August 25th, 2021, and as promised, I'm reporting in "real life" the interesting history of the COVID-19 pandemic. And today I'd like to talk about a category that I have to admit worried me, people who are genuinely kind and concerned about other people, and don't want them to believe in the hoax. Of course, I know that it's not a hoax, the same way that I know that there was actually a moon landing, or the Holocaust, or that there's really a Queen of England. And it's simply that it would be logistically much too difficult to fake all of this stuff. People would have to cooperate more than I've ever seen it possible, and so to me it can't possibly be an elaborate hoax. And speaking for myself, I've never been good at stuff like that, I'd forget what I was supposed to say, or my sense of humor would overcome whatever I was supposed to do. But there are a lot of people who genuinely believe that it's just an elaborate plot

I'll admit it, I'm a big James Bond fan, and have been one since I was a kid in the 1960s. He has always been a defender of the Western World, which includes England of course (he works for the British government) and also the United States (where I live). He's a defender of the status quo. That is, he's one of those mysterious people who work behind the scenes to keep everything the way it is, like the cable guy who makes sure that I always have an internet connection. And I've always admired people like that. I started watching the movies in the 1970s, and I read the books, which were written beginning right after World War II in the early 1950s. The character had been in military service, and after the war ended, he was hired to fight in what was called "the Cold War", which was between the West and the East. Bond drank his martinis made out of vodka, not gin, because he spent a lot of time in Russia, which became the Soviet Union after World War II. He

Let's take a stroll down the boardwalk in 1935 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I just found this photo, and it really gets me into the mood of time-traveling at a leisurely walk. And before we take another step I want to say thank you to the nice people at Duke University, who scanned in this photo as part of their ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions), and to the photographer who originally took this shot, which was of the billboards. Everything else in the photo is incidental, and that's what I want to look at, but I want to look at the advertising, too. I suppose that's me there in the tan hat and dark suit, looking around. Is that you with the cigar? You don't see it much nowadays, but back then it was typical for women to walk arm-in-arm. I've even seen men do it, but nowadays it sends a different message, and makes people think of something else (this is the internet, so I don't have to tell you what!). But I just see two typical couples stroll